


Dark and Quiet Spaces

by quoth_the_ravenclaw



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: (you can read it as pre-slash if you like), Claustrophobia, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, matsuhana's scheming backfires, the iwaoi isn't necessarily romantic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-17
Updated: 2016-04-17
Packaged: 2018-06-02 20:46:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,079
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6581506
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quoth_the_ravenclaw/pseuds/quoth_the_ravenclaw
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Iwaizumi doesn't like small spaces. Oikawa is the only one who knows.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dark and Quiet Spaces

**Author's Note:**

> This is unbeta'd. I proofed it myself, but please feel free to point out any typos!

Oikawa’s first thought when he heard the click of the lock in the door behind him was that he was going to kill Makki and Mattsun.

His second thought was that they were trapped.

His third thought was _oh, shit_.

“Very funny, let us out,” Oikawa said, pounding on the door.

“Mm, hard pass,” Came Matsukawa’s voice from the other side.

“We’re not letting you two out until you work through that weird sexual tension and either bang or kill each other,” Said Hanamaki. “Have fun!”

There was cackling and the sounds of footsteps receding and Oikawa redoubled his efforts. “Open the door!” He shouted, but Hanamaki and Matsukawa were long gone.

_Shit._

Oikawa turned and rested his back against the door, shifting so that the knob wasn't digging into his spine. He squinted in the darkness; it was hard to see, even with his contacts in. He couldn't make out anything in the glorified broom closet Hanamaki had so graciously shoved them in. All he could tell was that it was small and dark and smelled faintly of bleach.

“Are you alright, Iwa-chan?” He asked.

“Huh?” Said the other boy, who had been uncharacteristically quiet until now. He voice came out forced and stiff. “Yeah, I'm fine, why wouldn't I be?”

Oikawa bit his lip and didn't respond. Iwaizumi liked to think that nobody knew the way he panicked inside small spaces, the way it made his skin crawl as his mind flashed back to an earthquake years ago, long hours spent trapped alone in the dark with no way out and no way to call for help.

Iwaizumi liked to think nobody knew, but Oikawa remembered.

Oikawa remembered a young Hajime, found by a volunteer rescue worker only after his parents had frantically realized that no, he was not with Oikawa and no, he was not with them.

Oikawa remembered a young Hajime insisting he was _fine, he wasn’t even hurt,_ despite the tear tracks on his face and the funny hitch to his breathing.

Oikawa remembered a young Hajime sharing his room while the repairs to his home were made, tossing and turning in the spare futon, gasping awake from nightmares and frantically searching for a light in the darkness.

Oikawa also remembered the special lamp he’d set up: the one that cast stars and planets onto the ceiling - the one he hadn’t needed for years - the one he’d use to recite the names of constellations and galaxies until the boy next to him was sound asleep.

Oikawa remembered being the first one to tap his number into the contacts of a young Hajime’s new phone, the one his parents bought so “things like this don't happen again,” feeling guilty that he’d left Hajime alone in the first place even as he snapped a picture of himself for the contact photo.

Oikawa remembered these things, though he was sure Iwaizumi wished he didn't.

“It’s fine,” Oikawa said, voice soft and methodical. “I'll just call Kindaichi and have him - _shit_.”

“What?” Iwaizumi said immediately, voice tinted with panic.

“Um, my phone is in my bag in the club room… do you-”

“No.” Iwaizumi said. His breathing was coming faster now, deafeningly loud in the cramped space.

“Don't worry, I'm sure-”

“I’m not worried,” Iwaizumi said in a tone that implied anything but.

Oikawa turned and pounded on the door again, shouting out for help. But classes were long over and the hallway was deserted, and all his clamoring was met with only silence.

Silence and the ragged inhales of Iwaizumi behind him.

“Iwa-chan, are you-”

“I’m gonna be sick.”

_Shit._

“You’re not,” Oikawa said, quiet but resolute. He reached out a blind hand, found a shoulder, grappled onto it. “Sit down and-”

“I can't- there's no room-”

“There is,” Oikawa said. He reached out his other hand, gently guiding Iwaizumi down to the floor, so that his knees were bent in front of him.

“There, good.” Oikawa took a deep breath, mustering up every ounce of calm he could. Iwaizumi was always the one comforting him, holding him steady and calming his breakneck heart, but now it was his turn to return the favor. Oikawa had to be the pillar this time..

“Put your head between your legs,” he instructed, voice light and even and he gently placed a hand over the back of Iwaizumi’s neck. “Now breathe with me. In for one, two, three…”

Oikawa could almost laugh at the sudden role reversal if he weren't so scared; how many times had Iwaizumi been the one talking him through deep breathing exercises? Oikawa kept counting, in and out, in and out, until the rabbit quick pulse of Hajime’s neck under his palm turned to something slower, more steady.

At last Iwaizumi sat up and slumped his head against the shelves behind them. It couldn't possibly be good for his neck, but Oikawa didn't say anything. Instead, he trailed his fingers up into the short spikes of Iwaizumi, let them tickle his palm.

“Do you remember the time you took me stargazing for my birthday?” Oikawa asked.

Iwaizumi grunted.

“You blindfolded me so I couldn't see where we were going.”

“You whined the entire time.”

Oikawa laughed. “You snuck us into that temple after dark, and we climbed all the way to the top. I almost died, slipping on a loose step -”

“I would have caught you,” Iwaizumi said.

Oikawa smiled fondly and gently pet through Iwaizumi’s hair. “Yeah, you would have.”

Iwaizumi made a small noise next to him, leaning into his fingers.

“You finally took the blindfold off and I couldn't believe it. The stars were so bright - there were so many of them. Ones I had only seen in books or that silly nightlight of mine. Constellations. Remember how I tried to teach them to you? You said they all looked the same.” Oikawa snorted. “The same! As if…” He froze as Iwaizumi shifted, resting his head on Oikawa’s shoulder.

“It’s the best birthday present I’ve ever gotten,” Oikawa finally said, his fingers resuming their motions in Iwaizumi’s hair.

They sat together in comfortable silence.

“We should go again sometime.”

Iwaizumi hummed, a low, easy thing.

Oikawa smiled. “Maybe in the winter. I want to show you Gemini…”

Beside him, Iwaizumi was quiet.

When Matsukawa and Hanamaki returned, a dream later, it was to find Oikawa and Iwaizumi curled up on the floor, Iwaizumi asleep on Oikawa’s shoulder as he whispered about the stars.

**Author's Note:**

> So I was thinking about how my sister had moved to Sendai right before the 2011 earthquake hit, and made the connection that it would have also affected the characters in Haikyuu who live in Miyagi, which in a very roundabout way led to this fic.
> 
> If you want, you can find me on tumblr @ quoth-the-ravenclaw


End file.
